This invention relates to saddle-bows for horse rising saddles.
The invention makes it possible to produce saddles without any risk of injuring horses whose withers are very prominent.
Known conventional saddles of this kind are mounted on saddle-bows made of two curved blades of wood, joined at the ends by two arches, also made of wood, called the cantle and the pommel respectively. This unit is covered with cloth and coated with strong glue. Thin strips of steel are riveted to the unit to reinforce it; the pommel, being the place subjected to the greatest stress, is lined with strips which may be as much as 5 mm thick, the horse's withers, being "wedge-shaped", have a tendency to push this aside and it is not unusual for the saddle-bow to break at this point.
The irons are riveted on the saddle-bow and the girth-straps are nailed on it.
Cloth straps stretched lengthways and widthways provide the slope and the hollow of the seat which is covered with a piece of leather.
For years there have been steel-reinforced glass fiber and resin saddle-bows of conventional type on which the various components of the saddle are nailed, stitched, riveted or screwed, assembly being the same as on wooden saddle-bows.
Known saddles have many drawbacks, notably a very important one which lies in the tricky manufacture of the saddle-bow and the complicated assembly of the saddle.
Another drawback relates to comfort, in fact saddles sold at present have to be "broken in", i.e. the rider has to strain for many hours to form the hollow in the saddle at the required place.
Moreover, this hollow is not final and if the rider who formed it lends his saddle for a while, this hollow may be deformed and displaced.
Some horses are very difficult to saddle without injuring their withers (these being very prominent) since the pommel touches them. To prevent these injuries, one or several thick squares of felt called "pads" are inserted to raise the pommel, but then the saddle is tipped backwards.
The arch of the pommel often breaks under violet stress, if the horse is very tightly girthed or falls on its back.